USA SERB ATROCITIES IN KOSOVO PRESS CONFERENCE

>> YOUR LINK HERE: ___ http://youtube.com/watch?v=_TtTeGbPC5c

(20 May 1999) English/Nat • • The U-S State Department on Wednesday said it has conclusive evidence of Serb atrocities in Kosovo. • • At a special press conference spokesman, James Rubin said the State Department was able for the first time to link NATO satellite images to video from on the ground in Kosovo and said it was clear that war crimes are being committed. • • He said that even though the State Department had the video they were not going to air it in full because it was very gruesome. • • A group of ethnic Albanian leaders later released a graphic videotape showing dozens of male bodies strewn across a field. • • They claimed the tape showed Albanian men of all ages who were executed by Serb forces. • • The Yugoslav government claims the video is a fabrication. • • At a special press conference held Wednesday, the U-S State Department released video showing NATO satellite imagery matching video released by the Albanian National Council. • • James Rubin, the department spokesman said this was the first time ever that images gathered from NATO matched those taken from the ground. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • We wanted to demonstrate three things, first, that the imagery that we released, NATO released on April 17 and this videotape that was released earlier today are identical locations where this massacre took place. And when you look at this kind of visual record and the conclusive clues that this is the very same location I hope it will make it clear to all of you that when Serb radio and television say that these are forgeries, that these are made up, these are propaganda, that it's the same regime that is telling you that is responsible for the Serb police that allegedly committed this massacre. • SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, U-S State Department Spokesman • • Rubin said the state department received the tape from the Albanian Council on Monday and since then U-S intelligence agencies have been working to see if they could confirm it. • • He said that this incident makes it clear that war crimes are being committed by Belgrade. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • This is not the only example, but it is the only time that we've been able to match actual video tape with overhead imagery. It is only a small part of the story, there are normally not cameras where these massacres take place and it will take many, many, days and months of hard work by investigators after NATO has achieved its objectives for us to get the whole story, But clearly war crimes are being committed, clearly, this is an example of that and clearly the Serb efforts in Belgrade are to try and lie to the world and tell you that just didn't happen. • SUPER CAPTION: James Rubin, U-S State Department Spokesman • • The video is almost too uncomfortable to watch. • • More than a hundred bodies littered across a field. • • The tape purports to show the aftermath of a horrible massacre in the Kosovar village of Izbica. • • Ethnic leaders who obtained and released the video claim this is more proof of the terrifying atrocities committed by Serb forces against ethnic Albanians in Kosovo. • • SOUNDBITE: (English) • Clearly they (Serbs) are not only killing men who can serve in the Kosovo Liberation Army • despite what they say. They are trying literally to destroy Kosovo and Kosovar families by destroying the husbands, grandfathers, brothers, sons of Kosovo, they are destroying Kosovo's families and that's what's going on now. • SUPER CAPTION: Ilir Zherka, Executive Director, National Albanian American Council • • The U-S State Department and Pentagon have verified that around 130 Kosovar Albanian men were killed in the village of Izbica between the final days of March and the early days of April. • • • • • • • You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you... • Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

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